Legends, history, and folklore have traditionally been passed down through generations by word of mouth, from one ancestor to another. Digital Storytelling is a new take on this concept. Digital storytelling still uses one's voice but adds digital tools so that stories are improved and more accessible. Creators of Digital Stories use media, images, music, voice, and narration to bring stories to life.
A Point (of View): Stories are told to make a point and should not be presented as a recitation of mere facts. Define the premise of your story so that all parts can serve to make the point. Consider your audience and direct the point to them.
A Dramatic Question: You want to capture your audience’s attention at the beginning of the piece and hold their interest throughout. Typically you want to pose the dramatic question in the opening lines and resolve it in the closing lines.
Emotional Content: Emotional content can help hold your audiences attention. The images, effects, music and tone of voice all lend to contributing emotion to the piece. Try to keep the elements consistent with the emotion of the moment.
The Gift of Your Voice: Most likely the first time you heard your recorded voice you couldn’t stand the way it sounded. And you still can’t. Suggestion….get over it! Your voice is a great gift and even thought you don’t like to hear it, others do. If you “read” your script your audience will not know how to react. Take time to learn and practice your script so you can speak in a conversational voice. Record several takes and select the best one. Trust that your audience will think it is perfect
The Power of The Soundtrack: Music is a big plus to a digital story. The right music can set the story in time and can convey emotion. Play music behind an image and a specific emotion is generated. Change the music behind the same image and an entirely different emotion is experienced. Sound effects can add tension and excitement to a piece, but be careful, they can be a distraction too.
Economy: A compact, fast moving digital story will contain only those elements necessary to move the audience from beginning to end. We know that our brains are constantly filling in (from our own experiences) details from suggestions made by sights and sounds. Don’t give every detail to clarify your story, let your audience fill in some of the blanks.
Pacing: The rhythm of the piece is what keeps your audience’s interest in the story. Music tempo, speech rate, image duration, and panning and zooming speed all work to establish pace. Generally pace will be consistent, but once in a while it will pause, accelerate, decelerate, stop or blast-off.
Part One: Collecting and Organizing 1. It is a good idea to create a folder to hold all of your materials. Make sure you name your folder so that you can easily find it.
2. Create a topic for your save story
3. Locate audio, visual, images, and document resources and save them in your folder.
4. Consider the purpose of your storytelling. Will you educate, inform, ask a question?
Part Two: Import and Create 1. Select the audio, images, and you saved in your folder.
2. Import them into the program you will use.
3. Change the order, size, and images if needed.
Part Three: Write and Record Your Script 1. Write your script based upon your purpose and your images.
2. Use a computer microphone to record your narration.
3. Import your narration into your digital story.
4. Save your digital story using the file type based upon which program you used.
Digital Storytelling
Legends, history, and folklore have traditionally been passed down through generations by word of mouth, from one ancestor to another. Digital Storytelling is a new take on this concept. Digital storytelling still uses one's voice but adds digital tools so that stories are improved and more accessible. Creators of Digital Stories use media, images, music, voice, and narration to bring stories to life.
What Should I Put into a Digital Story?
There are Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling. Taken from The Center for Digital Storytelling.
How Do I Begin?
Here is a pdf tutorial on How to Create Simple Digital Stories
You Need a Storyboard and Here is Why
What is a Storyboard and Why You Need OneUsing PowerPoint to Create Storyboards
Step by Step Process on
Creating a Digital Story
How to Create a Digital Story
Part One: Collecting and Organizing
1. It is a good idea to create a folder to hold all of your materials. Make sure you name your folder so that you can easily find it.
2. Create a topic for your save story
3. Locate audio, visual, images, and document resources and save them in your folder.
4. Consider the purpose of your storytelling. Will you educate, inform, ask a question?
Part Two: Import and Create
1. Select the audio, images, and you saved in your folder.
2. Import them into the program you will use.
3. Change the order, size, and images if needed.
Part Three: Write and Record Your Script
1. Write your script based upon your purpose and your images.
2. Use a computer microphone to record your narration.
3. Import your narration into your digital story.
4. Save your digital story using the file type based upon which program you used.
Resources